Lopez admits blame for race-deciding crash

Both the Toyotas had been evenly matched for the first half of the race, before Jose Maria Lopez effectively settled the fight in favour of the #8 crew when he made contact with the #90 Aston Martin Vantage of Jonathan Adam at Turn 15 in hour five.

The Argentine racer admitted he was to blame for the incident, which cost the #7 car nearly two laps.

Lopez recalled: "I went inside into Turn 14, it was a blue Aston Martin [the #90], I was a bit late but also for what I saw at that point, he closed the line very quickly, I didn’t really have space.

"I had to cut the corner, I caught the kerb, the car jumped and when I landed, my rear [went] into his front, damaged the back of the car. I lost performance and I had to come into the pit.

"Fortunately [the damage] was not big, we could continue, we kept second position.

"These things happen. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time."